Saturday

Full day at the office today.

2 and Mom took off for StL around noon. I feel badly that I cannot follow her on the course tomorrow. Hugely bad timing for me. She did pasta at Olive Garden last night. It wouldn't do any good for her to have pasta tonight.

Yesterday was the date of the 71st wedding anniversary of Phil and Margaret.

The normal IRS deadline for individual tax returns when April 15th falls on a Saturday or Sunday is the following Monday. This would mean that the date this year would be Monday the 16th. However, since the 16th is also Patriots' Day, a holiday in Washington D.C. and six Eastern states, the IRS has elected to make Tuesday the 17th the deadline for all taxpayers this year. I've been doing returns for 30 years and this is the first time that I can recall this additional one day extension to a Tuesday. This must mean that the circumstances are truly unusual, or that my Alzheimer's is kicking in again. I'd bet on the latter.

You could make the tax deadline for individual returns July 15th and most accounting firms would be working weekends through that date. Nothing like a deadline to make things interesting.

Sunday is the Paris-Roubaix bike race in northern France. It is by many accounts the most significant one-day bike race in the world. "The Hell of the North." A little over 160 miles over mostly flat terrain, but with many sections of pave (General Classification) types of the big multi-stage races, but rather the gritty hard men who are willing to put up with lots of misery. Discovery's main man for this event, George (cobblestones). And the weather is often a bit sketchy. The winners of this type of race are generally not the Lance Armstrong GCHincapie broke his wrist in the California race and will not compete. They have some good guys though, so who knows. Luck plays a role too. A flat tire. A crash.

My pal Roy completed his coach's courses this week and will be an assistant coach in due time. In a style associated with PE instruction by cynics, the last two classes were supposed to go from 5 to 10, but actually went from 5 to 7, with a film included. He is certainly now well-trained.

All for today.

Be careful out there.